Did you ever notice your parents and grandparents stop a conversation when you walked into the room?
Now remember, most of them did not have phones or televisions, but they did have history (gossip). Those family stories that morphed into something else. Those stories that talked about that family member that no one knew about, but a small group of people.
Now to every story, there is a small amount of truth. The one that I what to talk about here is surnames.
Remember when you were in school, and you came across someone with the same last name as yours. Of course, you were excited, because you thought that you had a family member that would have your back. When you got home and told your parents or grandparents, they look at you sadly and said, "No we are not related to that group of Cunningham's." Your bubble was busted, but should it have been?
Where in the world are you going with this, you want me to get to the point right?
O.K. here it goes. You probably are related. Let's look at my family. The Cunningham's. This is what I know so far. We come from Greenville, South Carolina, but when I was doing my search, I noticed several Cunningham's from North Carolina. So, what does this have to do with a bag of chips. Only this. The person or persons that had us enslaved, had family members that lived in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Tenn. Slaves were given to children as property. When a female married, her slaves went with her, and her husband to another state.
Our ancestors were separated because of a will, a gift, or a business deal. It would not be uncommon for them to have been taken crossing state lines. So, all of those Cunningham's that are and were in the Old 96, and the states that are surrounding South Carolina are probably my relatives.
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